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Helpful Planning Tips For Parties

Planning:

• Set a limit to your guest list that truly reflects the size of your home.
• Be prepared to hire some help so you can enjoy the party. Go to your favorite diner and offer the best waitress the job. Diner waitresses are usually great at multitasking and are quick thinkers. Be prepared to pay $20-$25 per hour for a good waitress. Be specific about what you want her to do and write down cooking instructions for hors’ doeuvres and other items.
• Be prepared to be a great hostess by introducing guests to each other. Use your food as a segway into a conversation: “Have you tried the Sopresatta and grainy mustard? Here, let me put one together for you and you can tell me what you think…”
• Write lists, lists, and more lists to keep you organized.
• Talk to your partner or a helpful friend and offer them specific tasks to help with throughout the party. This will help them to help you better.
• Serve hot and room temperature items to keep your sanity. Running to and from the stove or oven is a hassle and increases your anxiety levels.

Stationary Food Platters:

Platters offer a fresh twist to the classic (boring) cheese & crackers and crudités.  I find that by adding some items that are similar to what we expect but add a new flavor; we are opening conversations about the food.  Instead of pepperoni for example, offer Sopresatta or other dried salami sliced very thin. Introduce new cheeses be prepared to make a sample and offer it to a guest. And Of course labeling the items is a great idea.

Passed Hors’ Doeuvres:

· Plan to serve some vegetarian, some meat and/or chicken, and some seafood.

· Keep passed hors’ doeuvres simple and that will keep them elegant.

· To make them visually appealing, take time to garnish each one and keep them all uniform in size. Pick a theme using color, size, or country of origin as options.

· Use the best ingredients you can afford.

· Prepare and freeze. For quick last minute preparation, I would say that the more you could do and freeze ahead the better. 

· Purchasing prepare foods is a good idea. If you are doing a large party you should never hesitate to use very good quality store bought items to enhance your menu. 

Passing Trays:

• Serve one type of hors’ doeuvres per tray.
• Be creative and use platters, silver trays, flat baskets, or pretty plates. I often use a large copper pan to serve with.
• Always use edible items to garnish your trays. Line the trays with large quantities of fresh herbs, dry yellow split peas, orange lentils, or green split peas, raw cranberries, and snow peas as examples.

Quantities:

When calculating quantities for a hors’ doeuvres only cocktail party, figure approximately 12 pieces per person for the first hour (8 hot, 4 cold) and 6 pieces per person every hour past the first hour.

Calculation:

Hors d’oeuvre only cocktail party: number of people x 12 HDV for first hour number of people x 6 HDV for every hour there after

Example: 2 hour cocktail party for 25 guests you will need approximately 450 pieces of hors d’oeuvres (for placed dishes, you and estimate that 1 ounce of food equals one piece of a passed hors’ doeuvres)
25 guests x 12 hors d’oeuvres = 300 pieces hors d’oeuvres for the first hour
25 guests x 6 hors d’oeuvres = 150 pieces hors d’ oeuvres for the second hour

For hors d’oeuvres served before dinner, figure approximately 6 – 8 hors d’oeuvres per person for one to one and a half hours of hors d’oeuvre service.

Calculation:

Hors d’oeuvre before dinner: number of people x 6 HDV for one to one and a half hour service

Example: 1 hour cocktail service before dinner for 25 guests you will need approximately 150 pieces
25 guests x 6 hors d’oeuvres = 150 pieces hors d’oeuvres for 1 – 1.5 hours